Shrinkage

Hello all. Just wanted to do a quick update as it's been a couple weeks. I've been feeling fairly good these last few days. I've only been dealing with some bowel problems (another lovely side effect most people don't know about) due to all the meds. But I've had some of my best days lately. My spirits are up. My body seems to be handling the chemo well. I've started to exercise lightly on my stationary bike. My appetite varies, but I've been trying to get down all the supplements and calories I can. I am still close to 50 pounds lighter than I was, but I'm hoping to gain at least 15-20 pounds back if I can.

I got a phone call yesterday from Danny Ainge. For those of you who don't know who he is, Danny is the general manager of the Boston Celtics. He's a former player who I watched as a kid growing up. I remember him helping us dismantle the Lakers many times, as we continue to do present day. I couldn't believe he called. We had a heart to heart talk. He's a great man who has a good perspective on life. For him to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to me was something he didn't have to do, and it made my day. My social worker, Allison, set it up and got me 4 tickets to the Celtics-Knicks game on the 29th. I should be able to meet Danny before the game, and possibly some of the team. I can't wait. I will force my body to feel good if necessary.

So I titled this post "Shrinkage" because I want everyone to "Think Shrink". Now that the cancer is stable, we are hoping to get the lesions or tumors to begin reducing in size, hopefully disappearing if possible. The smaller and fewer there are the better.

That's all for now. On a side note Jen and I are looking to visit California in early December. I am looking forward to that and to seeing our friends. We'll have to plan well so we can visit everyone. It will be fun.

-Andy

A Good Day

Hi all,

It's late in a long day. I'll fill in the details later but wanted to get the news out now. While we all hoped for the best, we steeled ourselves for the worst, and today brought something in between, a compromise of sorts.

Andy's CT scans indicated that his cancer is stable, which is good news for us. The cancer is being held in check by the targeted therapeutic (Tarceva) and the chemo (Alimta). Its not shrinking, but its also not growing overall. Ideally we want to get to a treatment where the cancer is shrinking. The compromise is that its good that its stable - this buys more time and possibilities.

Today we added another chemotherapeutic agent to his treatment - Carboplatin, which was one of the two chemo "ingredients" in the original treatment cocktail in early Spring. The Drs are hoping that the combination of Tarceva, Alimta and Carboplatin will start shrinking the tumors and prevent new lesions. Andy's tissue samples are being processed for additional biomarker analysis, in the hopes that he qualifies for clinical trials that are expected to begin in the near term.

All in all a good day. Andy had his infusions after the tests and meeting with Dr Janne, and then we headed home to rest, have some dinner and spend time with little Nicholas.


Thank you to everyone who reached out, prayed and sent good vibes and thoughts - we take every day with thanks and hope for another good day.

Tim

Hope

Hi all,

Its been awhile again. I find it hard to update the blog at the end of the day, especially when occupied with ongoing events. It's been six weeks since I wrote, and much has happened in that time. I am going try to tell the story with more pictures of the good times that we have had even as the time has been tough on Andy.

Andy received his first injection of Alimta just before we headed out on vacation at Lake George. Although Alimta is generally tolerated well by patients, it has been exhausting to Andy, and really took a toll on his body. The chemo, cancer and unusual heat we had in the first week of September wiped him out, and he was left exhausted and in pain for the start of vacation. He started to recover about a week later, and we were able to better manage the pain for the latter half of the vacation. Andy had the same experience this past treatment three weeks ago - the day of the injection he is okay, and then a week of pain and discomfort followed by recovery.

Andy and Jen are getting settled in Boston at my parent's house, unpacking what seems to be at least 100+ boxes and getting acquainted with the area. We spend time together as often as we can. I try to get out at least 2-3 times weekly to visit, and Andy's done some fun things, battling through the pain and exhaustion to be there for and with us as well. I am amazed at him when he asks how I am doing, checking in on me and how I am handling this even as he fights so hard for himself.

We had fun at the lake, smiled as Maggie and Nicholas entertained us, we rode the Minnie-Ha-Ha with the kids, sent the girls for high tea, took a few boat rides, and spent time relaxing, talking and laughing, recounting old (and typically embarrassing :) memories. We've taken time to talk, about life and have had some hard talks and cried together. We've celebrated the girls' (Maggie's and Ann's) birthdays. We took an introductory helicopter ride last week, and Andy got to shoot some aerial footage of the north shore. Old friends have visited, boosting Andy's spirits; just last week we had visits from high school friends Adam and Chad and their families and went apple picking with the kids.

On Sunday we capped it off with the last game of the Sox season - the Sox handily beat the Yanks with two double steals, including a delayed steal of home. Mark, my best friend's dad and a second father to us, talked to the Sox prior to the game and Andy was presented with a game used ball by the Sox during the game. Towards the end we wandered down and had our photo taken with the World Series trophies from 2004 and 2007.

Oh - and the best part of Sunday was arriving to pick Andy up, finding everyone smiling and learning that my dad and Andy had tuned up his Harley, put the fluids back in the bike (they had to be drained to be shipped). Only way to tell if it was working was to start it up and ride it - so Andy did - just down the street and back but man am I proud and wish I had seen it.

We have also had to deal with some harsh realities of the cancer. Andy is tough - he fights every day to get stronger, to gain weight, to battle the fear, the raw emotion, to beat the cancer. It is a tough disease, a very lonely fight that Andy bravely tackles. And it takes a toll on all of us, emotionally, physically and mentally. I can't tell you how hard it is to see him struggle or be in pain and just wish there was something you could do to relieve him of this fight.

It is so important for Andy, our family and our friends to recognize that we aren't in control, we don't know what tomorrow brings - and that anything is possible, that another day brings new possibilities. Hope is perhaps the greatest gift we have in life and in this fight for life. And so we head into another CT scan at DFCI tomorrow to gauge how the cancer is responding to the the treatments. And we hope and pray for possibilities, that we will have good news and / or additional treatment options.

I leave you with pictures from the past few weeks, and ask that you send good vibes and keep Andy in your prayers and thoughts.

Tim